Broken Pasts and Dark Shadows
by MarvelDaydreamer
Summary: Sarah has been with Hydra for the majority of her life. They've trained her since she was young, have turned her into their own personal assassin and the first enhanced. One day she manages to escape though, but what happens when they send the Winter Soldier after her? (Rating may go up)Takes place before during and after CA:TWS Bucky/OC - My first fanfiction!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Marvel or any of their characters (unfortunately). I do own the OC though.**

 **A/N: This is my first fanfiction, so reviews are welcomed. I'm not the best of writers I will admit, but I hope that you will give my story a chance.**

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She was flanked by guards as they walked her back to her cell, sometimes known as the holding box. There were two guards behind her and three in front, all of which had guns. She kept her head low and followed them even though she knew where they were taking her. The soldiers footfalls were heavy on the concrete ground whilst hers were light, barely even heard even in silence, which was the way she was taught to walk.

Her name is Sarah and she has been with Hydra for most of her life, seventeen years to be exact. Though it has not been her choice to be with Hydra. Ever since she turned eight she had been trained by her dad who was a member of Hydra. He was one of their best and he had done such a good job training her that when he died, Hydra saw an opportunity to take over her training and raise her as an assassin for their own purposes. When her dad had died, she was ten and Hydra had sent agents to look after her and train her. Then when she turned sixteen, they sent her out on her first assassination mission. Since then she has killed around twenty people and has gotten pretty damn good at what she does.

Though more recently since Hydra got their hands on Loki's sceptre, they had started experimenting on her. The experiments had procedures had been excruciatingly painful for her and many times she had thought she would've died from the pain. She had been the first successful candidate to survive the experiments. She was the first enhanced.

She had gotten abilities and had become stronger too. They had made her into some sort of super soldier, bit like Captain America but not as fast or strong. Though stronger and faster than the average person and she would heal slightly faster too. The ability that she had gained allows her to move things with her mind but the catch was that it physically drained her. It was like when someone did exercise, the more they did the more tired they got and the longer they did it, the more tired they got. It worked the same with her ability, the longer or bigger things she did, the more it drained her of energy.

They had started the experiments on her around two years ago when New York was attacked by aliens and Hydra got their hands on the sceptre. Since then she has used her abilities to assassinate her targets. What makes her kills unique, is that the victims have been found dead with a bullet in their head, but when looked at closely they can see that the bullet wasn't shot out of a gun. Sarah uses her mind to move the bullet at the same speed it would if it was shot out of a gun to kill her targets. Yes, any good shooter could do that, but the difference was that she didn't need a clear shot, she could use her mind to make the bullet curve and dodge civilians and only hit her target. Another plus was that she could kill them in public places because no gunshot could be heard and no one knew where the bullet would come from.

This had made her and important asset to Hydra. Another drawback with her ability was that when she used it a lot or to long, it wouldn't just drain her, it also made her eyes turn black. Then if used even longer or more, the veins around her eyes would also turn black and the black would spread down her face to her cheekbones. This was another problem that she had to be careful about. It meant she had to watch how much of her ability she used when out in public, making sure no one saw her face. But luckily for Hydra small things like controlling a bullet to kill someone, didn't even make her eyes turn black.

They reached the cell and the front guard went to the wall to enter a code, causing the forcefield to lift. The forcefield meant that they could see what she was doing, and was more effective than glass. Her holding cell was in the middle of the room and had two walls that were made of concrete and the other two were forcefields. In her cell she had one bed and a table and chair. The room that the cell was in, contained nothing other than pipes and wires that were all over the place.

Before she entered her cell, they took off the handcuffs. It hadn't always been this way. Before her abilities, she lived in an apartment and did 'jobs' for Hydra. But after she was enhanced, they took her to this base so that she could always be monitored, taking away her freedom. She walked to the middle of the room and the force field was put back up. She sighed and went over to her bed to sit. After her daily training, they would inject her with something. It would make her tired, but it wasn't enough to knock her out. It meant that if she tried to use her ability to escape, it would be too draining because of the lack of energy and she wouldn't get far. The drugs would wear off in twelve hours though. They injected her at nine at night so that at nine the next morning, she was able to train again.

She had once tried to escape, when they first locked her up, but had passed out from using too much of her ability, combined with the drugs that had already drained her of energy. When she had woken up, they had punished her severely for her actions and she never tried it again. She still bared the vertical scars on her back from her punishment.

She missed her old life, even though it had never been normal, it had been more peaceful before. She lay on her bed and rolled over onto her side, pulling the covers up and tried to get to sleep, even though she was usually plagued by nightmares.


	2. Chapter 1

That day she had woken up at eight like she usually did. Her whole body was still tired despite all the sleep. The drugs hadn't worn off yet and her nightmares made her feel mentally exhausted.

She sat up and looked around. There was no one there, like there usually was, just the cameras in the corners of the room. Outside of the room that her holding cell was in, there were guards though. At half eight, another Hydra guard came in and put the food on the table. When he did come in, there were two guards standing outside the cell area, with their guns aimed at her so she didn't try anything serious.

After breakfast, Sarah was escorted by the guards out of the room and they had re-handcuffed her. She had expected them to turn at the next right, to the training room but instead they continued forward. A cold shiver went down her spine, she knew where they were taking her. Whenever she had a new mission they would take her to meet a man called Alexander Pierce.

He was an older man with eyes that looked right through you and held no warmth. He always creeped her out, around him she would always get the feeling that at any moment he would take out a gun and shoot her where she stood.

They reached the door and opened it, pushing her forward into the room that was his office. The guards closed the door and waited outside. He was reading some file and looked up when he finished. Closing the file, he put it on his desk. He was wearing a grey suit today that matched the cold colour of his eyes. He smiled falsely at her as he gestured her to sit at the chair opposite him. She did as he wanted.

"Well, it's been a while since we last met. About four months if I remember correctly, but your progress reports are good and show no incidents or bad behaviour, which I am happy to hear."

A guard opened the door. "Excuse me sir, sorry to disturb you, but we have a problem."

Sighing in exasperation, he got up and went over to the door. "I'll be back in a moment." And with that he left the room.

She sat there in silence and waited. After a few minutes she realised that the file was still on the desk. Looking around again, she quickly and quietly reached out to pick it up. On the cover it said top secret in bold red. She flipped it open and saw a picture of a man in the corner. He was in some sort of glass and metal coffin and his eyes were closed. She skimmed the file, her eyes growing bigger in shock as she read.

The man's name was James Buchanan Barns, otherwise known as the Winter Soldier. He is an assassin with a metal arm, that replaced the one he lost in a fall and has worked for Hydra for over seventy years. He has had his mind wiped, making him the perfect assassin, as he didn't ask questions and was responsible for many important deaths, including that of Tony Stark's father, Howard Stark.

She took a moment to process what she had read before flipping the page. It contained some progress reports, about how he was handling the mind wiping machine. Hearing footsteps she closed the file and placed it back where it was. She felt sick after reading that. _'How could they do that to a man against his will and take away everything he remembers to turn him into a weapon._ _'_ She at least got to keep her memories and knew where she came from.

Pierce entered the office and sat back in his chair. He linked his hands together in front of him on the desk and continued. "Now, you know why your here. You have another mission and this time it has to be public. It will take place in two days and you will be fully prepared and debriefed by someone else as I now have things I need to attend to. Hail Hydra."

"Hail Hydra." She said. Then the guards came back in and took her to another room.

Two days later, Sarah was sitting in a truck with some soldiers in black uniform. She had been assigned to kill some important business man. Luckily this time, the mission was not in a different country and the journey was only an hour. The best part about the missions for her was that she would get to go outside and feel the breeze on her face. She was to assassinate him at a local café where he was meeting another business man.

The truck came to a stop and the back doors opened. She got out and was told her instructions again. She left and made her way down the street, turning right then left. She was wearing normal jeans a vest and shirt and had a side bag on over her shoulder. It was a sunny day and her target would be seated outside, making it more convenient for her to kill him.

She got to the café and ordered herself a water and pastry. She took her items out to one of the outside tables, making sure that she had a good view. Sitting down, she opened her bag to check what was in it. There was a book and four bullets lying at the bottom of it. She reached inside and pulled out the book to lay it on the table and then reached in again for the bullets. She kept them hidden in her hand and put the bag on the ground. Opening her book, she pretended to read, still holding the bullets.

From where she sat, she could tell that there was a Hydra car with two agents inside parked at the opposite side of the road, trying to look conspicuous in their black uniforms and stand out giant black SUV. She smiled to herself, amused at their weak attempts. She sat there for five minutes until a car rolled up and out came her target. He walked over to a table that was about ten metres away from hers. He shook hand with another man before sitting down to discuss whatever. Two of his guards sat two tables over from them. She moved the bullets in her hand focusing on the cold feeling of them.

Moving the hand containing the bullets onto her lap, she looked over her book at her target. She opened her hand slightly and using her mind, she made a bullet levitate out of her hand and just above it. She planned the route it would take and then shot it forward using her mind, watching it curve around the sitting people and hit her target square in the head.

Then other man reeled back and the dead man's bodyguards jumped up, guns pointing as they tried to find where the bullet had come from. One of them got out his phone and called someone as he went over to check his dead boss if he was alive. People now had realised what had happened and stood up looking in horror, whilst others screamed or ran to take cover. Sarah quickly got up.

She was meant to go to the car and be taken back to the base, but an idea came into her head. This was a perfect opportunity for her to escape. She couldn't go back to Hydra, not now, not ever. She had to be careful, if they caught her, who knows what may happen, especially after the last time she tried.

She turned around and went in the opposite direction of the car. When they saw this, the agents in the car got out and made their way towards her but struggled to get past the panicked people. A few gunshots went off and she saw that the targets guards were shooting at the Hydra agents after they took out their guns.

She was running now and made a few turns and made her way towards a buy street. The agents had shot the guards and where now after her again. She stopped and turned, taking cover behind a building corner. She peeked around it and saw them heading her way, so she let two of the bullets fly out of her hand and aimed them at the agents. She hit them both and they fell to the ground, causing the surrounding people to scream and panic.

She mixed herself in the crowd and made sure there was no one else following her. She still had one bullet left in her hand. Police sirens could be heard and she picked up her pace turning corners and getting as far away as possible. She saw a bus at a stop and took the opportunity to get on it, using the left over money they had given her to buy something at the café. She paid and made her way to the back area of the bus sitting at two empty seats. She looked out the window but saw no one looking for her.

As the bus pulled away, she let out a sigh of relief. She had done it. She had gotten out of Hydra and was now free.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own Marvel or anything to do with Marvel in the story but the OC is mine.**

 **A/N: Hey! I just wanted to say thank you to anyone who has taken the time to bother to read my fanfiction or to favourite it or follow it. It means a lot to me and again, reviews are welcomed! So I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)**

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Four days later…

So far Sarah had managed to avoid Hydra and the police. She was living in a shitty apartment, using money that she had stolen. She had gone to a casino and used her ability at some gambling tables, so that she won around five hundred pounds. Enough to survive on but not too much to look extremely suspicious. She had left quickly afterwards, keeping her hood up to hide her face from the cameras.

She had been keeping low key too, not going anywhere with too many camera's or too public. It was restricting, but nothing compared to what Hydra was like. She was out jogging around the area. She could do it for hours, because of what they had done to her through their experiments, but usually stopped after an hour and a half. There wasn't much for Sarah to do whilst trying to stay hidden, but she did spend a lot of her time outside.

She had gone to the library to read some books, something she had missed doing. She loved to read, it gave her a way out. She could get lost in the stories and the characters lives and only have to think about their problems, able to forget hers, if even for a short amount of time. She was sitting at the table nearer the corner, with only one other person.

She felt at peace there and inhaled the smell of books which always relaxed her. She went back to her reading. Three hours later, she finished her book and left, making her way home. She pulled her jumper hood up and stuck to the shadows. It was only eight thirty but it was getting dark and she still had to have dinner.

Once she got back to her dingy apartment she got herself some leftovers. She wasn't a very good cook, as she had had no one to teach her. Her mother had died in child birth so she had never known her and her dad was shot when she was ten, but he couldn't cook either.

Her dad had been strict with her because of his line of work, he couldn't afford to be too distracted. He had had rules that she had had to follow and if she broke them she would be punished. Her punishments would depend on the rule she broke. Occasionally he had backhanded her but she was used to that kind of stuff from her training. What she did hate was when he had locked her in a cupboard with no light. She would have to stay in there for a whole day with no food or water. She had suffered the punishment only once. Her dad had loved her though and would show it, it was just he couldn't afford any slip ups and distractions.

She finished the leftovers and got changed for bed. She checked to make sure all of her guns and knifes in her room were accessible. She had a gun strapped under the side table next to her bed, another one under her pillow, a knife on top of the side table along with about ten bullets too.

Confirming this, she got into bed and went to sleep.

The next day was the same, usual routine. Jogging, out for lunch, library and home. But today on the way home she passed a bar. It had been years since she had gone into a bar or club. Hesitating, she decide to get one drink.

She entered and made her way over to the bar. The bartender came over and she ordered a beer. He came back with one and handed her the bottle. Taking a swig, she looked around. There was a group of girls at a table next to the window, three guys at the table on her right, and another table of four guys behind her a few metres. At the bar was a group of five kids, two girls, three boys and by the looks of it they were still in collage, then there was one guy alone next to them and on her other side there were two women, both alone and another guy.

Satisfied that there were no risks here, she went back to her beer.

"Heeey, beautiful." Some drunk guy had come up to her.

She turned her head to look at him with an eyebrow raised. He was a good looking guy, clearly drunk as he wobbled slightly even though he was standing in one spot and he slurred his words.

"Can I buy yooouu a drink?"

"Sorry not today." She said.

"Well, tell me if you change your mind." He said and gave her his card.

He walked away and she rolled her eyes. Like she had time to worry about guys at the moment. Finishing her beer, she stood up and left.

The next morning...

She looked in the mirror at herself. She had dark brown shiny hair that went just below her shoulders. It was straight at the top of her head and was wavy/curled loosely when it reached her ears. She was skinny and her body was toned from the hours of training. She was a bit above average height and had blue eyes. She was pale from the lack of sunlight she got in the Hydra base that she was kept in. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked away from the reflection of herself.

Sarah was wearing her jogging outfit; a vest, trainers, three quarter length trousers and a jumper. In her pocket she has some bullets and a few pins in her hair. She took off her jumper and slipped her arms into some straps that connected at the back. Attached to the straps was a knife holster on her left which held a knife with a blade the size of her hand. She slipped her jumper back on and zipped it halfway up. She wore the jumper for two reasons; so that no one could see the knife and so no one would see the scars that decorated her back.

She went out and jogged down the street. She went around the park and some housing areas. She stuck to the emptier places with very few cameras. It was also six thirty, so the streets were more deserted.

It was then that she realised she was being followed by a car. She kept her pace and turned into an alleyway. Here she sped up but heard the people get out of the car. She came out of the other end and looked around, another black car was coming her way. She turned right and ran at full speed. The car caught up and overtook her before turning to face her and block her path.

Behind her were the men from the other car. She was standing on the pavement of an empty street. Only apartments under construction or closed shops were here. She was blocked with no where to go.

"Put your hands above your head." A man from behind called.

She couldn't go back. She put her hands out in front of her then quickly raised them, causing all of their guns to fly out of their grips and into the air. Throwing her hands to the left, the guns were thrown the same way out of reach. They all froze for a moment, then went for their other guns but she used her mind to throw them into the air and back, knocking them out when they hit they ground with force.

The car was now speeding towards her, ready to hit her. But she stood her ground bringing her hand up, causing the car to flip onto it's back.

She could tell that her eyes had gone black now, and she had started to feel the effects of using her ability. She ran off again, she had gotten rid of them but she knew they would have others coming soon.

Sarah had gotten only a few metres down the street before another two cars were chasing her. These ones were bigger though. Again, she stopped to turn and flip one of them onto it's side. She raised her hand to flip the other too. Though not as hard, as she was breathing heavily, now slightly out of breath. The other car went over too as if some invisible force had reached out and knocked it over.

Some guys got out of the overturned cars but she used the bullets in her pocket to take them out. Turning she continued as fast as she could. But then a man stepped out of an alley and stopped on the road, about five metres in front of her.

She stopped in her tracks to look at him. He was wearing black combat boots, black cargo trousers, a black leather bullet proof vest and had a mask that covered the bottom half of his face. It suddenly clicked as she realised who the man was. The Winter Soldier in the flesh and blood.

He had a large gun pointed at her but with a flick of her wrist it flew out of his hands. He looked slightly startled at this, but his features quickly recovered. She could feel the veins on her face turning black. She didn't know how to describe the feeling of it, just that she could feel it spread.

The air was filled with the smell of smoke and blood.

He reached behind him to get his other gun and approached her. Again, with just the small flick of her out streched wrist, she causing it to fly out of his hands. This time though it just seemed to make him angry, instead of shocked.

She reached inside her hoodie and pulled out the knife. It was her last weapon. Now also out of guns, he pulled his knife out of his holster too.

He raised his right arm and took a swing at her but she dodged it twisting turning her body and so that she now stood behind him. She went to stab him in the back – literally – but his metal arm twisted around and caught her wrist to twist it. She yelled out in pain and dropped the knife. Kicking him in the back of the knees hard with force so that he fell forward.

She held her wrist in her hand, teeth gritted. He got up and spun around at lightening speed, and threw his knife straight at her. She stopped it inches from her chest using her mind and let it fall to the ground with a loud clatter.

They both no longer had any weapons but truth to be told, she didn't want to fight him. She had read about the pain he had suffered, and knew who he was even if he didn't. She knew he had no choice, and that wasn't his fault. He was a weapon to them, and she could even relate to what he had had to go through at Hydra. In fact, he had probably been through worse than her.

He took a quick step forward and punched her in the chest, knocking some air from her lungs and snapping her out of her thoughts. She stumbled back slightly then recovered.

He kicked out but she did a forward flip over his leg, landing in a crouch then quickly standing and twisting around so that she was facing him.

"Stop! I don't want to hurt you!" She shouted but he paid no attention to her and went to punch her again. She brought her arm up, blocking the blow. "Please." She just managed to gasp out.

A flash of confusion crossed his features when hearing the word but was gone so fast she wasn't particularly sure she had actually seen it. He came at her again and he brought his metal arm back so she ducked avoiding another heavy blow but as she stood up again, he quickly spun on the ground with his leg out so that it knocked hers out from underneath her. She fell onto her back and pain vibrated through her body and she gritted her teeth to stop herself from yelling out.

He came down on top of her, putting all of his weight on her so that he was pinning her down. He put his metal hand around her neck and applied pressure, cutting off her airway. She struggled to breathe against his firm grip. Sarah writhed under him and kicked out but he wouldn't budge. She had no other choice but to use her ability now.

Raising both her hands she concentrated and felt his grip on her throat loosen. She tried harder and he flew back right off of her a few feet away, landing on his back. She gasped and scrambled across the ground to the knife and gripped it in her fist. She pushed herself up and went over to him on unsteady feet.

She held her other hand out in front of her and used her ability to keep him pinned to the ground.

He tried his best, struggling against the invisible force pinning him to the concrete ground and it was draining her strength quickly in her current state to keep him pinned down. She crouched over him and raised the knife above his heart. She lifted her arm and brought it flying down.


	4. Chapter 3

She stopped centimetres from his chest. She couldn't do it. She didn't know why but she just couldn't.

Sarah stood up and stumbled back, she stopped restraining him and fell to her knees. She was exhausted and dropped the knife at her side. She hung her head low and watched from under her eyelashes as he got up. Falling onto her side, she slipped into unconsciousness. She couldn't fight it any more and she just let the darkness take her.

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When she woke up, she was in a truck that was moving. In the truck were two soldiers on either side of her and opposite her, sat the Winter Soldier.

She was handcuffed again -no surprises there. The metal felt cold and heavy around her wrists. She was lying on the bench and sat up whilst rubbing circles on her temples. She could feel a headache coming on and her throat felt sore and sensitive. It was probably going to be covered in bruises soon, from his strangling her. She rubbed her throat and looked over at him again, and saw that he was looking straight at her, making her feel slightly uncomfortable and fidgety. She lowered her hand and looked around the truck to avoid eye contact.

The ride was a bit bumpy and she didn't know how long she had to go. Each bump jolted her sore body and made her headache worse. Sarah swallowed but even that was painful. She had been removed of all her weapons, including the hair pins she realised. Her wrist was also throbbing too and she could already see colourful bruises starting to form on it.

The truck stopped and she looked over to the doors. A few seconds later they opened and three men in uniform stood with their guns pointed at the inside of the truck, directly at her. She rolled her eyes. _'W_ _hat could she do in this state? She wasn't even sure if she could stand._ _'_ The Winter Soldier got up and out of the vehicle and stood outside, waiting for her.

"Exit the vehicle slowly." One of them said to her with a heavy Russian accent.

So she stood up on very shaky legs and made her way towards the entrance. She got out, but nearly fell over when she jumped down, which was mildly embarrassing.

The guards all stood around her and led her towards a door. They were in a large garage with a lot of Hydra vehicles. Once the door slid open they continued through it, down a dark, eerie corridor. They took a few turns but were going too fast for her to keep up and so she started to fall behind.

When finally start to she did slow down, no longer able to keep up, one of the men behind her pushed her forward causing her trip, falling face first to the ground. Her face smacked against the floor, causing her to groan out load. _'She was fed up of falling over.'_

Behind her the Winter Soldier said something in Russian angrily to the man who had pushed her. She put her arms underneath her to push herself back up but they wobbled slightly and she worried that they would give way at any moment. He saw this and held onto her upper arm, pulling her up with next to no effort. _'Well, that's what he made_ _it look like._ _'_ She steadied herself and they continued down the corridor, but were now going at a slightly slower pace so that she could keep up with them.

They reached a room which she entered along with the Winter Soldier and two of the guards. The rest of them stayed outside the room.

The room was bare apart from a chair in the very middle.

"Sit." Said one guard.

She did as she was told, so was in no state to go against orders. The chair was wooden and had no arms. In front of her was another door.

It opened and in stepped a man. She couldn't see him properly as he was in the shadows. But a bad feeling swept through her body.

He stepped forward and she let out the tiniest of whimpers. It was Pierce. And he looked furious. He came to a stop a few feet in front of her.

"So, is there anything particular that you want to say?" His cold voice asked sharply.

She looked down and shrunk back even further into her chair. He paced back and forth then came to a stop again, right in front of her.

"I guess not." He said calmly, then lost control as he shouted at her. "How dare you fucking run! Putting Hydra at risk like that you selfish bitch!"

He backhanded her and it stung her cheek but she didn't dare move her hand up to touch it. That would only make him worse.

-Bucky-

He watched from the back of the room as the scene unfolded in front of his eyes. She was sitting as far back in the chair as she could possibly get and he could tell she was scarred from her body language but she didn't let it show on her face, which he thought was admirable.

He had been sent to get her either dead or alive, they didn't particularly care which. That was fine with him, it was what he was trained to do. He had been told about her and that she was enhanced, but it had still shocked him slightly to see her flip those cars and make the guns fly out of his hand as if they were nothing.

Her eyes had turned black along with the veins around her them.

She hadn't properly fought him, and had even asked him to stop. But he couldn't, he had had orders. But then she had used her ability to overpower him. She had had an opportunity to kill him and possibly escape but she hadn't.

He didn't understand why.

It had caused mixed feelings in him, ones that he wasn't used too. It had confused him and made him waver, something that he had never done as far as he could remember.

"You're lucky I don't kill you on the spot, but you are still of use." Pierce practically spat at her.

He didn't like Pierce. There was something off about him, but he just wasn't sure what exactly. Pierce stormed out of the room shouting back. "Take her to the holding box!" Then he left.

He came over to take her arm to lift her up. But when he reached out she flinched from him, causing him to waver before taking her arm and helping her up.

-Sarah-

She was taken back to her cell and left there alone.

She was glad to be alive but she remembered what Pierce had had done to her last time she escaped. At the thought of being punished in the same way again, she could feel the scars that decorated her back from the last time sting and itch at the memory of it.

She hated what Pierce could do to her. She was trained to be an assassin, to make her face an unreadable mask whenever she wanted to. To be in control of her body even if she was terrified to the core, but Pierce seemed to make her forget all that she was taught. He brought back old memories of Hydra training her, telling her that she was never good enough or not doing something right. And someone would punish her too if she didn't do something right.

Those old memories turned her into her scared younger self, who she hated. But there wasn't much that she could do about that. So instead she sighed and went to sleep, hoping that her body ached less the next day.

* * *

When she woke up, unfortunately for her, she felt ten times worse than she had the previous day. Her neck was bruised and even the slightest movement or touch to do with her neck was painful and her wrist still hurt whenever she twisted it. Though her whole body felt like she had taken a serious battering.

The day had started off the same, but after breakfast a doctor was sent to check on her. So she sat calmly on her bed whilst being examined, but with six guns pointed in her direction. The doctor bandaged her wrist, cleaned her small cuts and gave her some pills for the pain.

After she was escorted to the training room.

It looked like a gym but with tables covered in weapons and targets to practice shooting or aiming throwing knifes at. In the middle, was a circle painted on the ground where people sparred.

Hydra did have another large room that was the gym, it contained training exercises, such as climbing up the rope, monkey bars, courses with obstacles, a track around the outside among others things.

The training room was used for fighting and the gym was used for fitness. But whenever she was in either of the rooms, there were guards stationed at all corners and at the door. And no one apart from her and whoever was training her, along with the guards were in the room.

She had been allowed to have a shower this morning and was given a new set of clothes. She was in three quarter black fabric trousers, trainers, a tight grey vest with a jumper on top. She had tied her hair up in a high pony tail.

Sarah wasn't quite sure why she was here, she couldn't do much with her injuries, but she supposed that was the point. If she couldn't defend herself properly then she would just end up more beaten up and battered than she already was. This was part of her punishment.

She was alone with the guards, obviously her trainer had not arrived yet. She moved to one of the tables and ran her hand over the blade of one of the swords.

"Ahem." Someone fake coughed behind her, causing her to spin around.

It was the Winter Soldier. He had snuck up on her, something not many people could do. He wasn't in his uniform like he had been yesterday. Today he was wearing baggy grey joggers, trainers and a black fitted t-shirt that showed off his muscles. His hair was still down but he didn't have his mask on, so she could see his face properly for the first time. She probably would have struggled to recognise him if it wasn't for his metal arm.

She frowned slightly at him, then it clicked. _'_ _They wanted him to train her._ ' This was not good, he could probably easily kill her in her current state and his arm was robotic so it could definitely overpower her.

"Please tell me this is some joke." She muttered more to herself.

"No, Pierce has asked me to train you since your past trainers have struggled to keep up." She groaned slightly. "We're going to train using your abilities today as you can't physically fight properly at the moment." His eyes flicked to her neck then arm.

"Okay, … so what exactly are we doing?"

"I'm going to shoot at you with some lead pellets in an air rifle. They won't kill you, just hurt if they hit you. You're going to have to stop them. Stand over there." He pointed to the shooting area.

She walked over and stood in front of a target, feeling a lot like one herself. She watched him pick up the air rifle and point it in her direction. He stood in in position and called out. "Ready?" She nodded as her response.

He fired a shot and she stopped it an inch from her shoulder. "Ok, try to stop it faster." He fired again and she stopped it a metre from her this time and letting it drop to the ground. "Good. That was better, this time I'm going to fire a few shots at once."

He pulled the trigger four times and she stopped them all about half a metre from her. He nodded in approval and they continued this for another two hours.

It was starting to get to her now. Her eyes had gone black and it was starting to spread to her veins. They hadn't had any breaks so far.

He lowered the rifle. "I think we're done with this. Take five then we'll move on to something else."

She sat on the bench at the wall. Her head was in her hands and she closed her eyes shut tightly, trying to imaging that she was somewhere else, anywhere apart from here. The bench moved slightly and her eyes snapped open, she looked out of the side of her eye to the right. The Winter Soldier was sitting next to her.

She was going to have to get used to the fact that he could sneak up on her. He was looking forward at the wall at the opposite side of the room. She closed her eyes again. They sat there in silence until the five minutes were up, then he got up and they continued some different exercises.

They did this until five, when she was taken back through and was given her dinner. Then at nine the doctor came again to give her the injection. She fell asleep quickly that night.


	5. Chapter 4

Sarah had spent the next week doing the same routine, though sometimes they would do some fitness training in the gym. Now she was completely healed, with all bruises gone. She had sparred with the Winter Soldier a few times but he had usually won unless she used her ability. He had also never actually properly beat her the shit out of her during sparring and she got the feeling that he was holding back but she didn't know why. During the breaks, they had sat in silence. They had never actually spoken properly, but he was a Hydra agent and she wasn't particularly trusting.

She remembered what she had read about him in the file. That he was mind wiped after missions and she wondered why he hadn't been wiped after capturing her. But then again, she didn't know exactly how it all worked.

Today she was practising her knife throwing. And at the break, they sat on the bench again, her with her head in her hands, trying to get her breathing back to normal pace. He sat next to her, seeming unaffected by their training.

"How did you get involved with Hydra?" he randomly asked, breaking the silence.

She frowned, confused at what he meant. "Excuse me?"

"It's just that I don't really understand how you became a part of Hydra. If you tried to leave, why did you join in the first place?"

She scoffed at his words. "I didn't really have much of a choice." He looked over at her, waiting for her to continue. Sighing, she elaborated. "My mum died in childbirth so my dad raised me. He was one of Hydra's best assassins. He trained me once I turned eight, so when he died, I was ten and Hydra saw it as an opportunity to continue my training and turn me into their own personal weapon. It's easier to train a spy at a younger age, children's mind are more open to new things and can be easily influenced, making them easier to teach."

"So you've been in Hydra for seventeen years?" She nodded.

"How come you're asking now?" She asked, curious.

He shrugged. "The question just popped into my head and I haven't been able to think of an answer."

"So,...do you remember much?"

He looked down, eyes slightly sad. "No."

She nodded in understanding, and didn't try to push it further.

"Did Hydra give you your abilities?" He said after a moment.

"Yeah, they did it two years back, when they got their hands on some new technology. I am the first that was successful."

"There were others before you?"

"Yes, but they got the procedures before Hydra fully understood what they were doing. It didn't end well for them."

Their break was over and they stopped their talk and picked up where they left off before with the throwing knifes.

* * *

They now talked occasionally during their breaks, though not a lot since she didn't like to share personal stuff and he couldn't remember anything, so their conversations weren't particularly interesting or long. It was really just small chat to fill the silence and time.

Even though it wasn't interesting, Sarah did actually enjoy it. She rarely talked to people in Hydra. The only ones who talked to her was Pierce or doctors along with the occasional order or demand from a soldier.

It had been a month since her escape and she was now more comfortable around him. Though she knew that she could never let her guard down because no matter what, he was still an assassin and could kill her without hesitation if he wanted to. Sarah was taught from a young age to act like you trust people, but to never actually trust them. Don't tell them anything that they can use against you.

She also knew that she could never mention anything that she had read in the file about him. She wasn't meant to have read that and who knows what would happen to her if anyone found out what she had read.

* * *

"So, I heard that they call you the Shadow. Why that?" He asked her.

That was what Shield had called her. They covered up her killings from the media, as there was no explanation for them and would only cause panic.

"Because when I kill someone, I use a bullet but no gun. So, Shield don't know how I do it or know what I look like. Because I don't need to have a clear shot to kill someone, makes it harder for them to find out how I did it and who I am. And I can turn the cameras so they're facing a different direction using my mind so they don't get me on footage. There are only two accounts of people seeing me, and even they didn't see how I did it or even get a clear look at me. So Shield doesn't really even know if I actually exist, to them I'm a shadow. Always there, but never truly seen."

He thought about it for a moment. "Makes sense."

"What about you? How did you get your name, 'The Winter Soldier'?"

He sighed. "Don't remember that either."

"Of course not." She said slightly exasperated. Just about anything she asked about him, he couldn't remember. "Does it annoy you?"

"What?"

"Not being able to remember."

"I don't really notice it. Most people never ask questions about my past so I've never really thought about it. I suppose I'm curious about who I was. Come on, we'd better get back to work."

* * *

Sarah was sitting in Pierce's office, across from him. It was the first time she had seen him since she had been taken back and he had hit her.

He looked annoyed and was furiously typing on his laptop. She sat straight with her legs crossed and her hands folded together on her lap, waiting for him to finish.

He stopped and closed the laptop. He looked right at her and she forced herself to stay still and not shrink back.

"Your progress reports have been good, but that was what they were like last time before you ran away." She looked down. "I have a new mission for you. I'm not too happy about sending you out since it's only been a month and a half, but it's your area of expertise. You will be taken out to Russia and will stay there for a week, where you will wait for further instructions. The Winter Soldier will be going with you to keep an eye on you, so don't try anything stupid as he has orders to kill you if you do." She nodded in understanding. "Hail Hydra." She was dismissed so got up and left.

Back in the holding cell, after she had been debriefed, Sarah sat on her bed. She was thinking about the mission, making sure she knew every detail. Nothing could go wrong or she could die.

She was going to be transported to Russia where she would stay in a Hydra safe house. The Winter Soldier would be coming with her and had orders to kill her if she tried anything stupid, like trying to run away again. They would be staying there for up to a week tops, waiting for more intel about the assassination on a man called Daniel. He was a Russian smuggler, that was on Hydra's hit list and they had gotten a lead on him.

They left in two days and it would take one day to get there. Most of it would be spent in a cargo truck or plane.

Sarah tried to get to sleep, she would think more about it tomorrow.

* * *

She woke up gasping for air and shot straight up. Looking around she remembered where she was, not that that was much of a comfort for her. She ran a hand through her hair and told herself she was being stupid again.

She hated the nightmares, they always left her a bit jumpy for a few hours. She was sweating and the blanket was on the ground, showing that she must have been thrashing about in her sleep. She leaned over and picked it up, putting it back over her. She sat there, still exhausted from the lack of sleep and the drugs that were still coursing through her system.

She could just see the clock that hung on the wall outside of her cell. It was six in the morning. That clock was the only way she could tell the time. In the Hydra base, most of it was underground, so there were no windows and since she only got out for missions, she would often forget what time it was here.

She knew that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep so she leaned back against the wall, hugging her legs to her chest. She pulled the blanket around her and repeated the mission over and over in her mind until it was practically seared into her brain.


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel, including characters or lines ect, ect. The OC is mine though along with other OC's ect.**

 **A/N: Thank you to everyone else who has now favourited my story or bothered to follow it. Reviews definitely are welcomed. This chapter isn't very exciting, and the Bucky/OC in my story is a bit slow, but it will happen! I promise it will get more exciting and enjoyable. Sorry about any mistakes, I'm the only one proof reading so yeah... Anyways, again thank you for reading my fanfic and I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

The day that the mission started eventually rolled around. Sarah felt slightly nervous but also excited. She had been allowed a shower and they had given her new clothes for the journey. They hadn't given her anything to take, it would all be at the place they were going. That and they probably didn't trust her with weapons on the journey where she could easily escape.

She was wearing black skinny jeans, a black jacket and also a black scarf that she could pull up over her face to cover it. She had boots on that were also black. Her whole outfit matched her name. black like a shadow, making it harder to spot her, but that was kind of the point.

At the moment she was sitting in the back of a Hydra armoured truck that was taking them to the cargo plane they would fly on. She sat in between two soldiers and across from her sat the Winter Soldier, who also sat in between two soldiers.

He was wearing a more casual outfit too. He had on his same combat boots and cargo trousers but on top he had a black jacket that covered his arm and gloves to cover his metal hand too. He did have a bag pack though, probably filled with the rest of his Winter Soldier outfit or something.

They had been in the armoured truck for three hours, so should arrive at the airport soon. They were going to be smuggled into Russia on the plane. They stopped twenty minutes later and were let out.

They had gone out to the countryside so they didn't raise any suspicions. She jumped out of the truck landing solidly on the ground and looked around. They were at the airport, which was quite small. There was a warehouse that probably held the planes and a building next to it, where the people here must work in. There was also a runway with the plane that they were travelling in. The plane was quite big and it's cargo hold was still open for them to enter.

They made there way to the plane, where they parted ways with the soldiers. They walked up the ramp and into the cargo hold. It was mainly filled with lots of boxes of different sizes, but at the side there was a space that had seats. There was a group of three Russian soldiers waiting for them in them in the cargo hold, standing by the seats. They would smuggle them in.

These men were muscular, dressed in soldiers uniform, holding big guns and all had shaven heads. Sarah noticed that one of them had a snake tattoo on his neck that could be seen peeking over his coat's collar. They spoke in Russian to the Winter Soldier and he said something back. She hated when people spoke in other languages right in front of her, when she knew they could speak in English perfectly fine. It just meant she had no clue what they were saying so they could be talking about anything, for all she knew they were speaking about her. She gritted her teeth to stop herself from shouting at them to speak English. They stopped and he turned to her.

"Buckle up, we're taking off in a minute." He sat in one of the seats next to one of the Russian men. She sat in the only free one at the end next to him and put the belt on.

A moment later the cargo hold door closed then the plane started to move. The Russian men were all talking between themselves - still in Russian so she still didn't know what they were saying, but she just ignored them. It started to take off as she felt the plane tilt back. She slid slightly in her seat and ended up sliding into the Winter Soldier's side.

"Er, sorry." She quickly mumbled and shifted in her seat so she wasn't awkwardly leaning on him.

She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, thinking about other things than the fact she was on a plane with Russian smugglers who were smuggling her into Russia so that she could stay in a Hydra safe house with the Winter Soldier until they got some information so that she could kill a Russian drug dealer.

She sat there listening to the conversation in Russian that she didn't even understand for two hours. Three times they had said something to the Winter Soldier and he said something back quickly, but it sounded strained and slightly angry.

She was still sitting with her eyes closed, but she wouldn't fall asleep, that would be completely unprofessional for an assassin. Her arms were crossed and her legs were out slightly in front of her too.

Forty minutes later and they had landed and were in the new truck being taken to the safe house. It was another thirty minutes drive before they finally arrived. They were dropped off and the men in the truck left. They stood outside an old looking apartment building.

It was dark outside and no one was walking down the street. It was chilly, and the wind nipped her skin, causing her to shiver slightly. He moved forward and opened the door. They went inside and walked up a flight of stairs and down a corridor. At the end was the safe house. He reached out to the knocker and twisted it to reveal a scanner which he placed his thumb onto after removing his gloves.

It beeped and the door unlocked.

"It only unlocks for my fingerprint." He stated, meaning that she couldn't leave unless he unlocked the door. They entered the apartment.

She closed it behind her and looked around but it was dark. She found the light switch and flicked it on. There was a kitchen to her left and a living room in front of her. To the left in between the kitchen and living room was a corridor. She stepped forward and went to check what was down the corridor. The Winter Soldier checked the kitchen and living room.

There were three doors. One on the right, the other on the left and one a the end. The first one on the right she opened and saw her uniform layed out on the bed. Obviously this was her room. There was a single bed up against the wall and drawers up against the opposite wall. There was no window in here, but there was a mirror above the drawers. She stepped out and closed the door.

The next door on the left was another bedroom, this one was the Winter Soldier's. It had the same layout as hers. Closing the door she went to the third one. It was a bathroom, with a sink, shower and toilet. She went back to the main are where he was still busy looking around.

"Door on the right is my room, the one on the left is yours and at the end of the corridor is a bathroom."

He looked over at her from the kitchen and nodded slightly to show he had heard her. She sat at one of the sofas and put her feet up on the coffee table. The place wasn't too modern, but it wasn't a complete shit hole either.

"Find anything interesting?" She called out to him.

"No." He answered her simply.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. Still with the one word answers. He came over to sit on the sofa next to her.

"So, what now? We just sit here all cooped up till we get the other intel on this Daniel guy?"

"Those are the orders." He replied.

She sighed again, but it could be worse. She could be back in that Hydra base."Is there any food in the cupboards?" She asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes."

She stood up and walked over, opening one. There wasn't much interesting so she moved to the fridge. In there was mainly microwave meals. She decided to just heat up some soup from the cupboard.

When the microwave beeped, she opened it and took out the bowl. Rummaging through the drawers, she found a spoon and started eating. He was still sitting on the sofa she noticed. Just staring at the a blank space on the wall. Halfway through her meal he got up and went off to his room without another word.

An hour later the clock said it was quarter to nine, she had finished her meal and washed the bowl and spoon. She was sitting on the window ledge at the moment, looking out at the street. She couldn't see much apart from lights in houses and street lamps, but she didn't mind. She had changed into pyjama bottoms, a vest top and a jumper that she found in the drawers awhile ago.

She heard his footsteps as he approached, causing her to turn her head. He was in baggy pyjama trousers and a top. He had something in his hand that she couldn't see in the bad lighting. She watched him curiously but also cautiously too. He approached her and held it out for her to see.

She inwardly groaned at the sight. It was the injection to stop her using her ability.

"I need your arm."

She held it out to him and he took it with a gentleness that surprised her then slid the needle into her vein and pressed down on the plunger, letting the liquid flow into her system. The drugs worked fast as she felt more tired straight away. He pulled the needle out and held it in front of him. He was staring at it with an odd look on his face.

"What does it do?"

She frowned at this and looked up at him. "They didn't tell you?" She asked mildly surprised.

"They said it stopped you from using your abilities properly, but I don't know how."

"It's a less concentrated dose of drugs they use to knock you out. It makes me tired and drains me physically. Because using my ability does the same thing, if I were to use it to escape, I would collapse as it would completely drain all of my energy. Therefore, I can't do anything drastic when using my ability until the drugs wear off."

He looked at the needle again and lowered it to his side. "You should get some rest."

She nodded and lowered herself off of the window sill to go to her room, where she collapsed back into bed.


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel or to do with Marvel, like character, plot, ect...**

 **A/N: Sorry that I haven't updated in a few weeks. I've had four exams to study for so yeah. :/ And I'm going back to school on Monday, so I'm going to try and update once a week.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has bothered to follow and favourite, you guys make my day! Again, feel free to review, I haven't gotten any so far...:( But you don't have to, I'd just like to know what you think. And thanks to anyone who has taken the time to read my story too, even if you don't like it. It means a lot. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. :)**

She woke up again that night in a cold sweat and breathing heavily. More nightmares. They had gotten worse than they usually were ever since Hydra had caught her again and she was starting to loose too much sleep now. She looked over at the digital clock. The neon red light coming from it lit the room in a demonic looking glow, so that she could just see the outlines of everything in the room. It was five in the morning.

 _'Just great, three hours before she normally got up.'_ She shook her head, lay back down and rolled over onto her side so that she was facing the wall. Pulling the covers up to her head so that she was cocooned by them and tried to get back to sleep.

* * *

Sarah poured the milk into the bowl of cereal. It was around half eight in the morning and she ate her breakfast sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed. There was no TV, radio, laptop or phones in the safe house. Hydra didn't want them getting any outside information she guessed. There were books though, but most of them were in Russian which weren't particularly useful for her and gave her a limited amount to choose from.

She was still in her pyjamas and had her hair tied up in a high pony tail. It's not like she needed to look presentable here, so why bother getting properly dressed?

She was listening to the cereal crunch in her mouth as she ate it. Sarah realised that she hadn't seen the Winter Soldier since the previous night. _'Was he still asleep?'_ She shook her head, forgetting about it. Once done with her breakfast, she put the bowl away and grabbed a book that she read sitting with her legs folded together, up on the sofa.

It had reached about noon before she heard any signs of life coming apart from her from in the apartment. The Winter Soldier emerged from his room and was dressed in a dark blue t-shirt and black trousers.

He went into the kitchen area to get something, but she was too busy reading to care. The book itself wasn't very interesting or entertaining, but it wasn't like there was anything else for her to do in here.

He went away back into his room a minute later, closing the door behind him.

When dinner rolled around and she had read two whole books. Sarah did like reading, but she didn't think that she could do this every day. Getting up off her butt and stretching her legs she went to look in the cupboards. There were some pot noodles that she picked out to put in the microwave.

When they were done, she went over to the window sill again and sat up on it with one leg hanging off the side. She was watching out the window as everybody walked on by, getting on with their simple lives. Completely oblivious that two assassins were across the street.

She heard the door open again and could hear him rummaging through cupboards in the kitchen, but she still didn't bother to look over. He must've eventually chosen something as she could hear him walk to the sofa and sit down.

They sat eating their meals in silence for a few minutes. "Why do you sit up there?" He asked out of the blue.

"I like the view."

"All you can see is buildings." She could hear the confusion in his voice.

"Yeah, but it's a better view than I get in the Hydra base."

-Bucky-

He looked down in thought at her answer. Sarah still confused him even though he had been around her for weeks now in training. She was difficult to read because she was taught to hide her emotions like he had been taught. He had seen her slightly angry and slightly scared but otherwise her expression usually remained neutral.

With most people he could pick up things about them with one conversation, but she gave away nothing.

He wanted to know how she thought. If you knew how someone thought, then you would know how they acted, making it easy to predict what they will do. But with Sarah, he knew nothing.

She escaped and was captured again, by him, but she hasn't tried to escape once since then, she has just obeyed orders.

So, she wasn't happy with Hydra and wanted to leave but she knew when she was beat, like at the moment. That was why she obeyed orders, because she knew if she didn't her life would only get worse so she would play along until she got a new opportunity to leave successfully once and for all. He knew that but he didn't know exactly how her mind worked. That's why he was always asking questions to know why she did certain things.

He hadn't done much today, read a bit, cleaned his weapons and stuff like that. Nothing particularly interesting. He was eating some beef thing from the tin at the moment, watching her carefully.

-Sarah-

Once she finished she cleaned up her plate and went to take a long shower. The hot water was relaxing and it was soothing. The feeling of the water all over her body, helped her to calm and relax.

She stepped out of the shower and towel dried her hair and body. She got changed back into her pyjamas and went through to sit on the sofa again. The Winter Soldier had gone as the room was empty at the moment, so she just got another book and began to read some more.

The lack of sleep from waking up every night because of nightmares was staring to get to her. She was struggling to keep her eyes open and couldn't focus on the words in the book properly. She had read the same sentence four times already and still couldn't remember what the damn thing said.

She was too comfortable to get up and move as well. Her eyes slipped close as she drifted off to sleep.

-Bucky-

He came back through at around nine with the injection only to find Sarah sleeping on the sofa. She was lying on her side, curled up slightly into herself with one hand under her head and the other hanging off the sofa's side. A book was lying on the floor next to the sofa.

She looked peaceful he noticed. Her features were relaxed instead of neutral like they usually were.

Her long and dark lashes made her look innocent when she was sleeping. He would've found it hard to believe that she could have such a deadly ability if he hadn't seen her in action for himself.

She was quite beautiful he supposed. She had a nice body, not too skinny but still slim and curvy in the rights places. She was average height for a woman and had dark brown wavy, thick and shiny hair that went just below her shoulders. Her eyes were a striking blue that could look right through a person. He frowned at his thoughts and tried to remember why he had come through in the first place.

He placed his normal hand on her shoulder and gently shook her till she stirred. She mumbled and opened her eyes.

-Sarah-

At the sight of the Winter Solider standing over her looking down, she shot up so that she was sitting and rubbed her eyes with her palms to wake herself up. She mentally scolded herself for falling asleep in the open, she should know better than to do that.

She looked at him questioningly and he held up the needle. _'Was it nine already?'_ She rolled up her sleeve and held out her arm which he took it to slide the needle into. Once it was done, she withdrew her arm and rolled her sleeve back down. Tucking some of her hair behind her ear, she stood up.

"I'm going to go to bed." She said and moved past him to her room, avoiding eye contact.

When she go to her room, she fell onto the bed and got to sleep straight away.

-Bucky-

He had gone to sleep at eleven pretty easily, but he was woken up at three in the morning.

He opened his eyes and automatically reached for his gun in the dark that was resting on his bedside table. He couldn't hear anything at the moment but something must have woken him up.

A small noise could be heard from through in the apartment. He strained to hear it properly. _'It could just be Sarah in the kitchen'_ He thought.

He was about to go back to sleep when he heard it again. This time it was louder though. He sat up now and really listened out for the sound. It sounded a bit like a whimper.

He got out of bed, holding the gun in both hands and moved to put his ear against his door. Now he could hear it clearer. Someone was whimpering and mumbling. _'Was someone in the safe house?'_ He was on full alert now. He twisted the door knob open slowly and looked out down the dark corridor.

There was no light on and he waited for his eyes to properly adjust. He could tell that it was coming from Sarah's room. He reached his hand out to switch his light on so that he could see a bit better and not stumble over his own feet. He started to move towards her room quietly and slowly, still listening carefully.

"No! Stop! Please! Please just stop!"

She was shouting now and he barged into her room. He expected to see someone else in there, who could have gotten into the safe house but there was no one apart from Sarah when he scanned the room.

The room was dimly lit and the only light came from his room the hallway. But he could see her in her bed thrashing around slightly and tangled in the bed covers.

She was having a nightmare he realised.

For a moment he just stared, not knowing what to do. He had never been in a situation like this before, as far as he could remember and didn't quite know how to handle it.

She was still mumbling but he could only make out a few words. He tucked his gun in the back of his trousers and stepped over to her.

"Sarah." He said and reached out to shake her awake. "Sarah." Her eyes snapped open and her hand shot out in his direction. He was thrown back into the wall with force by her ability. He hit it hard, banging his head a bit and letting out a small groan. He was pinned there by an invisible force, unable to move at all.

The mist seemed to clear from her eyes as she realised where she was. She looked at him and her expression changed as it dawned on her what she was doing. She dropped her hand quickly and he could move again, no longer pinned to the wall.

"I'm sorry,...I...I don't, know… sorry." She mumbled in a shaky voice.

He looked at her carefully as she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them, burying her head down into them. She started to tremble, and he subconsciously felt the need to comfort her. He walked over to her bed, took the gun from his trousers to lay on the side table as he sat down. He pulled her into his arms.

He didn't really know why he did it, but he just did for some reason. It was odd - hugging someone, another thing he can't ever remember doing.

She was still trembling slightly but was also leaning on his chest. For a long moment they just sat there. When she finally stopped trembling, he pulled away slightly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just had a nightmare." She said still a little shaky.

"Do you have them often?"

She nodded. "Every night. How..how did you know I was having one?" She frowned.

"You were shouting in your sleep and I heard."

"Sorry I woke you. I rarely shout."

"It's fine, you can't help it."

They sat there for a moment before he got up off the bed.. He went over to the door and paused. He turned back to say something but stopped when he saw her.

She was still hugging her knees and a bit pale looking. He had never seen her so venerable and he had a nagging feeling that he couldn't ignore. He couldn't leave her like this.

He closed the door a bit so that only a small amount of light was entering the room and he went over to her bed. He sat down on it and put an arm around her. She didn't say anything or pull away either, then after a moment she sat back and leaned into his side. He put his legs up on the bed and pulled the cover over her.

She sighed after a moment. "Thanks..for staying."

She closed her eyes and eventually managed to get back to sleep. He stayed awake, but closed his eyes and leaned his head back taking in a deep breath.


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Marvel, including characters, plot lines ect**

 **A/N: I'm sorry that I haven't updated in three weeks, even though I said that I'd update in one, but I've been really busy. A close relative who has cancer has gotten really bad recently and one of my close friends parents is having a physical health trouble, so I have been more stressed and have had writers block. But I have finally written chapter seven, so I hope you like it, it's my longest chapter yet.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has favourited, followed and reviewed. You guys are awesome and make me smile. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

-Sarah-

She reached her hand out to switch the lamp on and squinted at the light. It was eleven thirty! She hadn't slept in that late for years.

She noticed that the room was empty as Sarah's memories of the previous night came rushing back to her, making her groan. _'Had that really happened?'_ She thought. Sarah didn't know how she felt about it all.

It was embarrassing for her and she felt slightly insecure about what had happened. He had seen her when she had been at her most vulnerable but, he had stayed to comfort her. She felt like now that he had seen her weak, he could use it against her. She couldn't believe that she had accepted his help! It made her look weak, like she couldn't take care of herself and she hated being weak.

She groaned again and buried her face into the pillow. ' _The pillow now smelt a bit like him'_ she noticed and she instantly scolded herself for thinking about it. She sighed. _'Hopefully, they could just continue as normal.'_ She wanted to never leave her bed again but knew she would have to get up eventually and she had already slept in. Dragging herself out of bed, she put a baggy jumper on and went to the bathroom.

After a shower and brushing her teeth, she went into the kitchen to get something to eat for her lunch. She went for something quick and made herself a cheese sandwich. She saw that he was sitting on the sofa reading something.

Sarah knew that she was going to have to face him sooner or later, but she opted for later. Picked up the plate, she started to walk back to her room.

"Sarah." He called out.

She stopped, it looks like she was going to have to face him now.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I wanted to ask you a question."

This got her attention. "Hmm?"

"How did you get those scars on your back?"

She didn't expect that. _'How did he even know about them?'_ "What scars?" She asked feigning confusion and keeping a blank face.

"I saw them this morning when you turned over in your sleep. Don't deny it."

 _'Shit! Shit! Shit!'_ She wasn't comfortable talking about this and had never expected him to find out.

She sighed. There was no point in her trying to deny it now, he had seen them. "I've had them for around a year and a half."

-Bucky-

She was avoiding his question he noticed. He remembered the sight of them that morning. At around seven he had gotten out of her bed and when he did, she turned over in her sleep and the covers fell onto the floor. When he turned back around to put them back over her he had caught sight of them out of the side of his eye.

He opened the door slightly more to get more light in the room so that he could see them properly. They were peeking over the top of her vest that she had worn to bed. He didn't risk moving her hair out of the way to get a better look because he knew it would only wake her from her peaceful sleep.

The scared skin was a bit raised and a slightly darker shade of pink than the rest of her skin. He felt a sad feeling in the pit of his stomach when he had seen them.

"You're avoiding the question." he pointed out.

She sighed and made her way over to where he was and sat down on the sofa at the opposite end from him. She put the sandwich she had made on the coffee table in front of her. She was sat a bit hunched forward and was staring at the wall opposite, but not really seeing it, clearly deep in thought.

"I got them as a punishment." She said with no emotion in her voice.

"Punishment for what?"

"When they first gave me my abilities, they kept me in the Hydra base under observation and said that I would get to go back to my apartment after a few months, that they were just making sure that there were no side effects. But when a few months passed, I still wasn't allowed home and in the base I had the rules and restrictions that I still have now. I soon realised that I wasn't going to be allowed to leave, so I tried to escape. It failed because the drugs were still in my system and I collapsed, loosing my consciousness. It was then when I first learned why they gave me the drugs. When I woke up I was punished by a Hydra operative under Pierce's orders." She looked down and closed her eyes before continuing. "I can still remember when I got them and the pain as my skin was ripped open by the whip. It had felt like my whole back was on fire. It's what I dream about over and over again every night." She whispered.

He looked at her carefully and felt bad for her. She hadn't wanted any of this. He could only imagine the pain that she would've experienced when she was whipped.

"Can…I see them?" He asked hesitantly.

She paused for a moment before nodding, eyes still closed and head still down. After a moment she turned around on the sofa so that her back was facing him and shrugged her jumper off. The tips of the scars were showing over the top of her vest. She slipped her vest off and held it too her chest. She still had her bra on, obviously and his stomach twisting uneasily at the sight of her back. His eyes widened at the sight as he looked her back up and down.

There were five welts that criss-crossed on her back. Each one was about seven to eight inches long. They looked painful and must've been relatively deep to cause this kind of scarring that still decorated her back over a year later even with her faster healing abilities.

He slowly reached out his normal hand to touch them. He gently placed his fingers on a scar and ran them down it causing her to shudder. They stuck up and felt bumpy and a bit rough against his fingers. He could feel his anger rising the longer he looked at them and it made him want to kill Pierce.

He pulled his hand back and felt disgusted that he worked for an organisation that had done this to someone. They had said that he was helping the world and helping them to reach peace on earth. He knew killing would have to be done to make the world a better place and reach Hydra's goals, but torture? Torture seemed so much worse than death in his mind. Torture could break a person, could turn them to madness by mentally harming them as well as physically. He started to doubt Hydra and himself, no longer sure that he was doing what was right.

He was brought back from his thoughts when Sarah moved to put her vest and jumper back on. She still wasn't looking at him.

-Sarah-

She felt exposed. Few people had actually seen her scars. She hated them, they reminded her of what Hydra had taken from her and what they could do to her in the future. She blinked hard, trying as much as possible to not let one tear escape.

He hadn't said anything since he had seen them and it was making her feel insecure and self conscious. He was probably disgusted at the sight of them. _'But he had touched them.'_ a small voice at the back of her mind said.

"Do they still hurt."

She shook her head. "Not really. I heal faster and have a higher pain tolerance than a normal person from when they enhanced me."

He nodded. She picked up her sandwich and stood up to go back to her room.

It wasn't until dinner that she re-emerged from her room. She wasn't very hungry or in the mood to eat dinner and looking through the cupboards didn't change her mind either. She went to the sofa to sit with her feet up on the coffee table. There was nothing to do in this apartment, at least at the Hydra base she trained most of the day. It meant that she had something to do.

Half an hour later the Winter Soldier came through. He sat down on the sofa and put his feet up too. It seemed that he must also be bored with nothing to do. She was staring at the mug of coffee in front of her on the table and used her mind to make it travel to her hand. Even something as simple as that that had tired her out and had left her breathing hard because of the drugs in her system. Holding it, she took a sip. She could feel his eyes on her.

"Yeah, I know. I shouldn't really use my ability to pick up a coffee mug that's only half a metre in front of me when I can easily reach it myself."

"No, it's not that. It's just that you seem to use it easily. Did it take long to learn how to use it?"

"It took a month to learn how to stop a bullet and another month to learn how to flip cars and stuff. The first week I could only make a pencil hover for thirty seconds."

They talked on and off until eleven. She had already been given her injection and was beginning to feel like she would fall asleep on the sofa. She yawned.

"Have your nightmares kept you up?"

"Yeah, I wake up every night, sometimes more than once. That and the drugs that drain my energy make me pretty tired."

"Do you want me to stay with you again tonight?" He paused as soon as the words had slipped out of his mouth and seemed to rethink what he had said. She could tell that he was wrestling with his thoughts. "You...you don't have to say, say yes...just cause..just..."

Sarah smiled at him stumbling over his words. It was an odd slight, normally he was always more in control and collected.

"….It doesn't matter. I shouldn't...have, have sai-" She cut him off.

"Yes" She blurted out quickly before she could stop herself. He looked up at her into her eyes. They stood there for a long moment before moving. She walked towards the direction of her room and he followed her.

She wasn't completely sure why she had said yes, but her nightmares still made her nervous and fearful. Last night having him next to her had actually helped her sleep better. She had felt vulnerable before after, but now she felt like she could trust him for some unknown reason. She didn't fully understand it herself.

They could only just fit both of them in the single bed. She was on her side and faced the wall whilst he was on his back. Lying there she was worried that she would have another nightmare and hit him during her sleep or keep him up. _'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.'_ She could feel his body heat radiating off of him and it actually relaxed her, making her feel safe.

She could feel herself drifting off to sleep and closed her eyes.

-Bucky-

He was still awake and listened to the sound of her breathing. He listened as it got slower and she drifted off to sleep. He lay awake for a while longer. He had offered to sleep in the same bed as her because he was worried that she would have another nightmare. And after hearing what she had her nightmares about, he felt like he had to protect her, even though he knew that she could easily take care of herself. Well, that reason was partly true.

He also liked being close to her. He knew that he shouldn't feel this way about her, that he shouldn't get close. He would only hurt her in the end and would be bad for her. It would never work with their situations, both of them having to do whatever Hydra asked of them. Their lives were literately in Hydra's hands. He probably wouldn't even remember her in a year's time either and the thought pained him a bit.

She moved in her sleep and leaned back a bit into him. At first he stiffened but then forced himself to relax again. _'Her hair smelt of vanilla'_ He noticed lying next to her. He knew that he should get to sleep but his mind was still racing at the thought of her being comfortable enough to actually sleep around him. It was a nice knowing that she now trusted him enough to let her guard down around him, considering that he had been sent to bring her back to Hydra dead or alive.

Back then he didn't care about killing her. He had accepted it in fact, it was his job. His mission, all that he knew. But now he wasn't sure if he would actually be able to kill her and the thought scared him. He had never disobeyed orders before or even thought about disobeying them but now he wasn't so sure. He closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep. He didn't want to think about the future, only just now with Sarah lying next to him.


End file.
